UFT Elections 2016 – Issues – Teacher Autonomy

Bring back teacher autonomy. Your class is your class:

Teachers are being given directives and curriculum and told “Do exactly this on this day and do not deviate.” Even if those words are not used, teacher autonomy has been removed from the classroom and our members have been turned into robots. One teacher told us they used to love having the students dress up and holding mock hearings when learning about the Salem Witch Trials. “I can’t do that anymore. When do I have the time? Joy and engagement has been stripped out of school lessons.” We say let teachers teach with their own styles and help foster and support their styles that work.